Shelter from the Storm
by imperial violets
Summary: After a long absence, Edward and his brother return to their childhood home to find their hometown corrupt with injustice. They stop at nothing to restore the town back to its former glory, even if it means becoming outlaws. *Gunslingerward* BXE, AH, AU.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, the lovely SM does. I just took the characters, made them human and transported them back to 1871 Missouri. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**A/N: ****Here's the first installment from **_**Shelter from the Storm. **_**It will be a dark, action-packed western. I will have the first chapter posted in a few weeks.**

**I really need to thank the super awesome melonscraps from turning pre-reader to Beta. I Love you and I'm looking forward to all the red marks ups! **

**Also, I need to thank to my wonderful pre-reader and partner in twitter crime, Loopis78. Love you my dear.**

**Thank you and enjoy,**

**iv**

**PROLOGUE**

"Charlotte?" Bella said, falling to her knees in order to face the six year old, "Do you remember the trail that leads to Dr. Cullen's house?"

Charlotte nodded quickly.

"I want you to run there as fast as you can and find Esme or Carlisle. Can you do that for me, Charlotte?"

Charlotte nodded again. "Why?" she asked sincerely.

"Please, just do as I ask, I'll explain later," Bella tried to keep calm, but she couldn't ignore the broken down doorframe of her house seen in her peripheral vision.

"But—"

"Go. Now," Bella practically yelled, "It's important. And please stay on the trail away from the river."

"I promise." Charlotte said and gave Bella a reassuring hug before her little legs ran and carried her towards the Cullen's house.

Once Charlotte was out of sight, Bella ran towards the barn to get her father's rifle. After the numerous attacks that had occurred in town, she should had known better than to not be prepared.

Bella carefully entered the house and securely rested the butt of the rifle on her shoulder. She held her breath and walked quietly, waiting to hear a presence.

"Pa? Edward?" she called out. There was no answer.

She left the front room and proceeded to the parlor. It was then that she noticed the disarray and the large quantities of blood splattered about.

The heavy scent of iron filled her nostrils. Bella ignored the stench that caused bright white dots to in her eyes, and walked further into the room.

She found him cut up to shreds, ruthlessly butchered behind the sofa. The bloody and mangled remains forced bile into Bella's throat. She emptied the contents of her stomach before she dropped to the floor and released a strangled sob.

"No, no, no," she cried as the pain tore through her and then started rocking back and forth.

"Bella, there you are."

Jacob's familiar voice reminded Bella that she wasn't alone, but at least it was a friend. That was until she turned towards him and found him standing in the entryway of the parlor with a sinister smile on his face while wiping a knife on a soiled handkerchief.

"You killed him?" Bella asked with shock and fear.

He nodded, "And now… it's your turn, but I think I deserve a little fun first," he said menacingly, advancing towards her with the freshly polished knife.

Bella scrambled to her feet, "Stay away, you sick bastard." Bella raised and pointed the rifle at him.

Jacob laughed at her vain attempt to defend herself. "Bella, my dear, you don't have it in you."

He was right and when he was close enough, he pulled the rifle from her with little effort but with enough force to pull Bella forward and rip the only source of defense out of her hand.

Before she had a chance to struggle, Jacob had his knife painfully pressed into her throat.

He forced her down onto the wooden floorboards, disregarding the blood and sick that now covered them.

"I can't promise this will be over fast," Jacob breathed in her ear as he pressed himself on top of her, "But I do promise I will put you out of your misery quickly when I'm done."

**A/N: **Hides behind laptop** I know, I know, and I'm sorry. There will be a lot of chapters before we get to this crucial moment. I promise the wait will be well worth it. So what are your thoughts? Please let me know.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, the lovely SM does. I just took the characters, made them human and transported them back to 1871, Missouri. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**A/N:**

**Thank you for all the alerts and reviews. I know it's been a while, but no fear, I will finish this story.**

**I special thank you is in order to my awesome beta, melonscraps. She's at my every beckon call. Without her you would still be waiting for this chapter. **

**Also, a thank you to my lovely pre-reader Loopis78, I missed you today.**

**Enjoy,  
**

**iv**

Billy Black was on the brink of sleep when he was startled by a loud commotion outside his home. He ignored it, thinking it was Jacob coming home late and closed his eyes again.

He was startled again when he heard his bedroom window shatter. He jumped out of bed to find a small kerosene lamp that was hurled through his window had started a small fire on the floor. After quickly extinguishing it with his quilt, he picked up his shotgun and ran toward the front door to investigate.

He charged out with his gun aimed and ready. Half a dozen men he recognized as regular patrons from the local saloon were galloping around his property. They gave Billy plenty of trouble in the past, but nothing this extreme.

"Get the hell off my property," Billy shouted, "Or I'll shoot!"

"Chief, you ain't never had good aim," one of the ruffians countered, "your half-breed son on the other hand does. Too bad he's too drunk to get up off his ass at the saloon and help his dear old Pa."

Billy had heard it all before and although he had made a good name for himself in the community and was well respected by folk, bigots like these boys still existed. And yes, they were boys, he recognized every one of them and had known them from the time they were young. But the war had taken most of their fathers away, causing them to lose their way like so many youths around these parts.

Now these trouble-making boys were wreaking havoc on the small town of Forks, Missouri, under the secret order of U.S. Federal Marshall James McCall. All of the townfolk knew he was involved, but no one understood what motivated James McCall to drive farmers off of their land.

Leaving was once something Billy had contemplated, but he did not have the means or the strength to start over. He was disappointed in how this quaint farming town had changed to something so sinister after the rebellion. Many of the well-respected families had left, and only a handful had stayed—in hopes of salvaging Forks from its unrest.

"I'm warning you, boy. Your Ma will whip you raw if you don't get off my land right now!"

They all laughed at Billy and pulled out their pistols, shooting into the air a few times to scare Billy back inside the house. Billy, however, wasn't afraid of them and held his ground. For the time being they were still at a safe distance, but if one of those boys crossed the invisible line that he drew so help him God he would aim and shoot.

"Chief, catch!" one of them shouted and hurled another lit bottle of kerosene toward Billy. The bottle scantly missed him and landed onto a pile of rubble behind him.

Billy was livid. "This is your last warning to get off my property or I'll shoot you down." he screamed, meaning every single word.

They laughed harder and their amusement was evident as they charged towards Billy on their horses. Billy took aim at one of them, making sure he aimed low enough to kill one of the horses and scare them away. Although it would be a shame to put one of those creatures down, he had to stand his ground.

A powerful blast sounded from his shotgun and Billy stared in horror at the bloody hole he had made in Tyler Crowley's chest. Tyler looked at Billy in shock before he slumped forward and fell of his horse. He was dead before he hit the ground.

"You killed him, you bastard," Ben shouted, "you're goin' to pay dearly old man." Ben got off his horse and slowly raised his pistol, taking careful steps towards Billy to get close in order to cause the most damage.

Billy stared into the barrel of the gun, he knew it was over and he wished it to be so. He never had any intention of killing Tyler, but unfortunately it happened.

"Ben," an accented voice sounded from under the darkness of a tree, "put the gun down and walk away."

Ben ignored the order, but the rest of the boys stopped and took heed to the man.

"Saddle up and go, all of you. I'll meet you in an hour." The man ordered.

"No, Laurent!" Ben retorted.

"That wasn't a request, Ben," Laurent replied calmly but the threat was apparent in his voice. "Move it!" he shouted.

Ben quickly mounted his horse and without another word led everyone away.

Once the men were out of sight, Laurent emerged from the shadow of the tree and revealed himself to Billy. The look that Laurent gave him made Billy skeptical as to why the U.S. Marshall's goon had come to his aid.

"What are you doing here?" Billy asked.

Laurent approached him with a smile and took the rifle out of his hand."I'm going to take care of this damn mess."

"I don't understand," Billy said, while he kept a careful eye on the rifle that Laurent held.

"Mr. William Black, you are under arrest for the murder of Tyler Crowley."

Billy looked at Laurent in horror, "They trespassed; it was self-defense."

Crowley's body will prove otherwise. Didn't know there was killer in Forks," Laurent mused.

"You can't do this!" Billy was in utter shock at Laurent's accusation. "There were witnessed," he urged. "I didn't aim for him and it was only one shot." He made every possible excuse in order to save himself from being arrested. He knew what an arrest meant in Forks and at that moment Billy preferred to have been put out of his misery by Ben than to suffer a hopeless trial and be hung by the neck at the end of the week.

Laurent quirked an eyebrow and smiled confidently. "What witness? As for the body, it looks like you treated it as target practice.

Billy fell to his knees when Laurent took his rifle and set off a few shots into Tyler's Body and decimated it.

"Nobody is going to believe this happened," Billy cried.

"Oh they will, Mr. Black. I'll make sure of that. By morning there will be five witnesses to the murder. That's enough to have you hung."

"Please, no," Billy urged.

Laurent laughed, "Well, I'll be. The hard-headed and proud Billy Black on his knees, begging. I never thought I'd see the day."

**A/N:**

***Hides behind laptop * Yes, I know! It's short and I could bet you're asking me where the hell is Bella and Edward? Next chapter, I promise both of them. I just needed to get this part out in order for you to enjoy and understand the story. What happened to Billy, happened to a lot of people in Forks, Missouri, and Edward plays a vital role to a possible change.**

**I apologize for taking so long to update. I will be updating every two weeks after this, so no worries.**


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